QUICK NOTES

Taiwan's Feng Chia University has succeeded in boosting the production of hydrogen from biomass to 15 liters per hour, one of the world's highest biohydrogen production rates, a researcher at the university said Friday. The research team managed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide (which can be captured and stored) from the fermentation of different strains of anaerobes in a sugar cane-based liquefied mixture. The highest yield was obtained by the Clostridium bacterium.
Taiwan News - November 14, 2008.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has released a complete draft assembly of the soybean (Glycine max) genetic code, making it widely available to the research community to advance new breeding strategies for one of the world's most valuable plant commodities. Soybean not only accounts for 70 percent of the world's edible protein, but also is an emerging feedstock for biodiesel production. Soybean is second only to corn as an agricultural commodity and is the leading U.S. agricultural export.

DOE JGI's interest in sequencing the soybean centers on its use for biodiesel, a renewable, alternative fuel with the highest energy content of any alternative fuel. According to 2007 U.S. Census data, soybean is estimated to be responsible for more than 80 percent of biodiesel production.

The genome sequence is the direct result of a memorandum of understanding between DOE and USDA to increase interagency collaboration in plant genomics. We are proud to support this major scientific breakthrough that will not only advance our knowledge of a key agricultural commodity but also lead to new insights into biodiesel production. - Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, DOE Under Secretary for Science

Soybeans have been an important food plant providing essential protein to people for hundreds of years. Now, with the new knowledge available through this joint DOE/USDA genome sequencing project, researchers everywhere will be able to further enhance important traits that make the soybean such a valuable plant. It's a great day for agriculture and people everywhere. - Dr. Gale A. Buchanan, USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics

The effort was led by Dan Rokhsar and Jeremy Schmutz of the DOE JGI, Gary Stacey of the University of Missouri-Columbia, Randy Shoemaker of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Scott Jackson of Purdue University, with support from the DOE, the USDA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). In addition, the United Soybean Board, the North Central Soybean Research Program, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, have supported the soybean genome effort.

Soybean is the one of the largest and most complex plant genomes sequenced by the whole genome shotgun strategy, noted Rokhsar. The process entails shearing the DNA into small fragments enabling the order of the nucleotides to be read and interpreted. Steven Cannon of the USDA-ARS collaborated with the DOE team to ensure the accuracy of the assembly.

Preliminary scientific details emerging from the sequence analysis will be presented by Schmutz at the International Conference on Legume Genomics and Genetics in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, December 8, 2008. The soybean genome sequence information can be browsed here.

Schmutz and colleagues have begun to analyze the soybean genome, which at one billion nucleotides is roughly one-third the size of the human genome. Preliminary studies suggest as many as 66,000 genes—more than twice the number identified in the human genome sequence, and nearly half-again as many as the poplar genome, sequenced by DOE JGI and published in the journal Science in 2006 (previous post).

We have ordered and localized about 5,500 genetic markers on the sequence, which promise to be of particular importance to those researchers seeking to optimize certain qualities in soybean, said Schmutz. Thousands of these markers were developed by Perry Cregan and colleagues of the USDA-ARS with support of the United Soybean Board. A genetic marker represents a known location on a chromosome that can be associated with a particular gene or trait. Prospective genome pathways of interest are those that directly influence yield, oil and protein content, as well as drought tolerance and resistance to nematodes and diseases such as the water mold Phytophthora sojae, previously sequenced by DOE JGI, which causes stem and root rot of soybean:energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: soybean :: genome :: biotechnology :: plant breeding :: In 2007, soybean accounted for 56 percent of the world's oilseed production. James Specht, Professor at the University of Nebraska, said that this nitrogen-fixing legume crop offers the dual benefit of a seed high in protein and oil—with room for improvement. With the advent of low-cost re-sequencing technologies, soybean scientists now have the means to identify sequence differences responsible for yield potential–the most desired of all crop traits, but to date the most intractable.

The soybean genome sequence will be a valuable resource for the basic researcher and soybean breeder alike, said Jim Collins, Assistant Director for the Biology Directorate at the NSF. Collins and Judith St. John of USDA Agricultural Research Service co-chair the Interagency Working Group on Plant Genomes, which oversees the National Plant Genome Initiative. The close coordination between the DOE sequencing project and the NSF SoyMap project facilitated through the National Plant Genome Initiative has added value to the sequence and physical map resources for this important crop, Collins said.

The soybean genome project is already making its mark out in the field.

It's tremendous that the soybean genome is out in the public's hands. Now every breeder can go into this valuable library for the information that will help speed up the breeding process. It should cut traditional breeding time by half from the typical 15 years. - Rick Stern, a New Jersey soybean farmer and chair of the Production Research program for the United Soybean Board (USB)

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, supported by the DOE Office of Science, unites the expertise of five DOE national laboratories -- Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest -- along with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology to advance genomics in support of the DOE missions related to clean energy generation and environmental characterization and cleanup. DOE JGI's Walnut Creek, Calif., Production Genomics Facility provides integrated high-throughput sequencing and computational analysis that enable systems-based scientific approaches to these challenges.

CROP NEWS

Researchers at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) and North Carolina State University in the U.S. have developed genetically modified Eucalyptus trees that store far more carbon dioxide and contain less lignin. - Biopact Sept. 17, 2007

The International Eucalyptus Genome Consortium's sequencing effort has been taken up as a project under the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Joint Genome Project for the year 2008. - Biopact June 12, 2007

Brazilian state of Acre intends to make cattle ranchers reforest land which they have cleared for grazing. The sustainable forestry policy is based on replanting economic tree crops such as mahogany, acai, Brazil nut and palms - BBCNews Sept. 27, 2006

Cassava has one of the highest rates of CO2 fixation and sucrose synthesis for any C3 plant. With this in mind, researchers from Ohio State University develop transgenic cassava with starch yields up 2.6 times higher than normal plants by increasing the sink strength for carbohydrate in the crop. This means cassava makes for a 'super crop' when it comes to both CO2 fixation and carbohydrate production, i.e. sugars, the feedstock for ethanol - Plant Biotechnology Journal - Volume 4/Issue 4 - July 2006

Synthetic Genomics and the Asiatic Centre for Genome Technology Sdn Bhd (ACGT) have created a multi-year research and development joint venture to sequence and analyze the oil palm genome. In-depth genomic analyses will be followed by subsequent studies that will analyze the oil palm’s root and leaf microbial communities, to identify biomarkers and metabolic pathways that affect the plant's growth and viability. Biopact - July, 2007

Researchers at the International Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics have developed a sweet sorghum for the production of ethanol. The new variety has a very high sugar content in its root. Average yields in trial fields in the Philippines were between 95 to 125 tons, considerably higher than those of sugarcane - ICRISAT - Feb. 28, 2007

Brazilian authorities have given their fiat for field trials with genetically modified sugar cane plants. The Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira (Cane Technology Center - CTC) will test three genetically modified varieties that are expected to yield 15% more sugar - GMO Compass

Bamboo planting can slow deforestation, scientists from the International Center for Research in Agroforestry in Nairobi, Kenya, say. Bamboo rapidly becoming economically beneficial crop with large potential for energy, bioremediation, and afforestation - Chosun (S.Korea) Aug. 30, 2006

"The beauty of miscanthus is that you only have to sow it once...Because of the way it grows, there is no need for fertilisers or chemicals", an English entrepreneur talks about his experience with Miscanthus as an energy crop - Grantham Today Aug. 8, 2006